Indonesian children make perilous journey to school over collapsed bridge

Sofiah, right, and her friends walk to school at Sanghiang Tanjung village in Lebak regency, Banten, Indonesia on Jan. 19, 2012.

Beawiharta / Reuters

Students hold on to the side steel bars of a collapsed bridge as they cross a river to get to school in Sanghiang Tanjung on Jan. 19, 2012

For Sofiah and her classmates, the journey to school just got a whole lot harder. The Indonesian schoolgirl lives on one side of the Ciberang River but her school in the village of Sanghiang Tanjung is on the other - and the river has been flooding.

On Monday, the rising waters broke a pillar supporting a suspension bridge that crosses it, the head of the village told Reuters.

Faced with an extra 30 minutes' walk to cross via an alternate bridge, Sofiah and her friends have chosen to undertake the precarious crossing of the collapsed bridge instead.

As word has spread, the media gathered to film a feat worthy of Indiana Jones. But the children don't appear to be perturbed, safely making it across and continuing to school.

At least they have something to say when their parents ask, "What happened at school today?"